SIOUX CITY, Iowa – A pair of set-piece goals by host Morningside put the Concordia University men’s soccer team in a 2-0 hole. Despite a number of quality chances, the Bulldogs never did find the equalizer in what amounted to a 2-1 loss at Elwood Olsen Stadium in Sioux City, Iowa, late on Wednesday night (Sept. 26).
The latest result means 11th-year head coach Jason Weides’ squad will wait at least three more days to taste its first conference win of the season. Concordia slipped to 4-3-1 overall and to 0-1-1 in GPAC action.
“It was a disappointing result. We didn’t play our best, but I thought we had played well enough to get a result,” Weides said. “I think Morningside played quite well, but we didn’t allow them too many chances to score. Unfortunately we conceded two goals on set plays in the first half. That proved to be a big hill to overcome. I think we felt confident that we could overcome it. We saw the belief. We just fell a little short.”
At one point late in the game, it appeared the Bulldogs were about to even things up at 2-2, but a Mustang defender made one of the plays of the night by clearing the ball off the line. Concordia kept the pressure on into the final minute. One particular shot even had Morningside’s keeper diving into the post to make a save. It was just one of those nights.
The Mustangs (5-3-1, 3-0 GPAC) have yet to lose in conference play. They got their goals from Austin Lingle and Okan Goelge. They then held on to avenge a 3-0 loss at Concordia in 2017. The Bulldogs responded soon after Goelge’s goal by getting on the board with Konrad Sinu’s team leading fourth goal of the season. He was assisted by Matthew Ho.
“It’s one of those where we felt like we probably out-possessed them,” Weides said. “We had a lot of quality chances to score. At the end of the day, you have to have one more goal than they do.”
The Bulldogs will resume play at Saturday when they will be back home to host Dordt (5-4, 1-2 GPAC). Kickoff from Bulldog Stadium is set for 3:30 p.m. CT. The Defenders fell by a 4-2 score at Jamestown on Wednesday. Concordia breezed to a 5-0 home win over Dordt in last season’s mid-October meeting.
Said Weides, “We’re going to have a tough, competitive league this year. This game shows it. I’m really looking forward to seeing how we respond on Saturday.”